The U.S. and South Korea are conducting annual drills.

U.S. fighter jets over North Korea could push the two nations "to the brink of nuclear war," according to North Korea's state run media.

NBC News reported the U.S. sent two dozen jets to engage in war games alongside hundreds of South Korean planes over North Korea on Monday, December 4. The drills came shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fired another ballistic missile, which was reportedly their most powerful one yet. NBC News reports the Air Force said the warplane drills are unrelated to the recent missile, adding the countries engage in such drills every year.

Still, North Korea's state run media described the exercises as a "grave provocation," that could lead "to the brink of nuclear war," NBC News reports.

The drills will reportedly run until Friday.

Previously...

In his first ever address at the United Nations on Tuesday, September 19, President Donald Trump said the United States may "have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”

Trump gave a 41-minute address at the UN, according to the Guardian. While Trump opened his speech calling for “harmony and friendship, not conflict and strife,” he then said that if the U.S. is forced to defend itself or its allies, "we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.” He also noted that the "entire world" is threatened by North Korea's nuclear threat.

“If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph,” Trump said, according to the Guardian.

Just after President Donald Trump's address to the United Nations, North Korea reportedly sent an open letter addressed to parliaments in numerous countries declaring itself a nuclear power and accusing Trump of "trying to drive the world into a horrible nuclear disaster." The letter is reportedly addressed September 28, which came just about a week after Trump told the United Nations that if the country forces the U.S. to defend itself, "we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."

CNN reported that Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called the letter "unprecedented," confirming the contents of the letter published in the Sydney Morning Herald is accurate. According to the Morning Herald, the letter says "if Trump thinks he would bring the DPRK, a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation" because "the DPRK has emerged as a fully fledged nuclear power."

Trump also called North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un "Rocket Man" again, after calling him that on Twitter over the weekend.

“Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for him and his regime,” Trump said about Jong-Un.

Tensions between the United States and North Korea have been escalating for months, particularly as North Korea continues to launch test missiles. Most recently, North Korea launched a missile that flew over the Japanese island of Hokkaido on September 15, a move that suggests the country could launch a missile that would reach the U.S. territory of Guam, the Washington Post reported. According to the New York Times, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday that the United States hasn't shot down any of North Korea's missiles because they haven't posed a specific threat to American or Japanese territory, but he indicated that could change should the missiles be directed toward those targets.

In his UN speech, Trump also touched on the U.S. middle class, migration and refugees, the fight against ISIS, and his commitment to putting America first. Some also noted what Trump did not address in his speech, according to the Guardian, adding that he didn't touch on climate change, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and more.